On 28 December 2022, controversial ‘actor’ Siddharth claimed in a now-deleted Instagram story that he and his parents were ‘harassed’ with security officials speaking in Hindi despite repeated requests to talk in English.
In his story, Siddharth said “Harassed for 20 mins @ empty Madurai airpot by CRPF. They made my senior parents remove coins from their bags! And repeatedly talked to us in Hindi after being told to speak English. Rude AF 🙁 When we protested they said in India this is how it is. Jobless people showing off power”.
This attention-grabbing story went viral with the media picking it up. Communist Party of India (Marxist) Lok Sabha MP took cognizance of the story and apparently asked Airport Authority of India (AAI), Madurai officials to look into the matter.
However, a report quoting a senior official of Madurai airport notes that the official on duty was a Tamil woman.
“Siddharth arrived at Madurai Airport with his family to go to Chennai. At 4:15 PM he reached the CISF security force’s checkpoint. Siddharth was asked to remove his mask and show his ID card. This is standard security practice. The belongings of Siddharth and his family were searched. A woman CISF personnel hailing from Tamil Nadu was on duty when Siddharth’s checking happened. She belongs to Thanjavur district and the woman personnel spoke only in Tamil. She didn’t speak Hindi.”, the airport official was quoted saying.
The clarification by the senior officer also noted that it was Siddharth who was angered by the searches. Later, a Telugu speaking officer came to the spot came there to ease the tension.
The senior officer stated that Siddharth angrily left for the boarding area along with his family after 10 minutes.
“None of the CISF personnel spoke in Hindi and behaved harshly towards Siddharth. Siddharth’s allegations are false. The footage from his arrival at the airport to his departure has been recorded on the CCTV camera.”, the officer was quoted saying.
In light of this clarification, ‘actor’ Siddharth has put out a lengthy Instagram post in which he goes on to narrate about the alleged ‘harassment’.
In the post, Siddharth laments about the CISF personnels placing his headphones in the tray. He also expressed concerns about his mother being asked to take out the coins from her purse and keep it aside in the tray.
It is to be noted that it is customary and mandatory for passengers to take out any electronic devices and metal objects and keep them separately in a tray for security check. In many airports, passengers are also required to remove shoes and belts.
Siddharth details about the altercation he had with the officials and goes on to level allegations against the officials. After 20 minutes of Siddharth apparently asked to speak to their senior member in the team. He claimed that whe the senior officer approached him, the latter allegedly told him “I’m your fan. Please go ahead.”
Siddharth later told that he didn’t want his kindness to which the officer had allegedly replied “Bro. It happens. Leave it. Sorry.”.
Siddharth apparently told him sternly in English “it’s not ok. I got an apology just because youre an admirer. What about common people who experience this kind of bullying? Learn to respect your elders.”
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